Why didn't my automation send a DM?

Before you start

• Test from a second Instagram account, or ask a friend to comment. That is the only way to see what a follower sees.
• Comment on the post itself, not as a reply under another comment.

Steps

1. Look at the top of any InstantDM page. If you see “Instagram conection expired! Automation Stopped.”, click Connect Instagram Directly (or Connect Instagram via FB Page on the Facebook banner) and log in again. See reconnect Instagram.
2. Click Account Settings → Automation. Check that Global and DMs are On, then click Save.
3. Open Insights and look at Plan Credits. On Free, if you have no credits left, nothing is sent.
4. Open the post: Quick Automation → the Instagram tab → Posts → click the post → All Comments. Find the comment and read its tag (see the table below).
5. Open Automation Recovery → Missed & Failed. Each row shows what happened and Instagram’s reason underneath.
6. Fix the cause, then send the missed DMs again with Resend. See resend missed DMs.
7. Still stuck? Click Need Help? at the bottom of the left menu, or email hey@instantdm.com.

Most common causes

Start at the top.

What you see	What it means	What to do
Red banner “Instagram conection expired! Automation Stopped.”	Instagram signed InstantDM out, often after a password change	Reconnect, then resend. Reconnect Instagram
Nothing at all for that comment	It was a reply inside a comment thread	Only top-level comments start an automation
No DM, and the comment didn’t contain your word	The trigger word didn’t match	A word in the comment must start with your trigger word: “link” matches “links” but not “blink”. Capitals and accents don’t matter. Trigger words
No DM, and the comment had extra words (Lead Gen or flows)	Match exact word only is on, so the comment must be only the word	Turn it off, or ask people to comment only the word
No automation configured	The post had no automation when the comment came in	Set up the automation. Older comments can be answered with Re-run
Out of credits in Missed & Failed	You had no credits left	Upgrade or renew, then Resend
Nothing is sent from any automation	Global is Off, or your plan ended (the account is then on Free with 0 credits)	Turn Global on, or renew in My Plan
Public reply posted, no DM	DMs is Off, or Instagram refused the DM	Turn DMs on. Check Missed & Failed
Rate limit reached	Your hourly pace was reached (Free and Legend Pro)	Wait, or raise Automations / Hour. DMs per hour
Scheduled (“Waiting in Queue”)	Queued because of a busy hour (Trendsetter and Multi)	Nothing. It will be sent
Instagram limit reached	Instagram asked your account to slow down	InstantDM retries after your Rate Limit Retry time
Message rejected in Missed & Failed	Instagram refused the DM	Read Instagram’s reason under the row. See the list below
They got a button, but not the link	Your Welcome Message or flow sends a button first	Expected. The rest comes after they tap the button
They got ”🔓 Follow to Unlock Exclusive Content”	Your follow gate is on and Instagram says they don’t follow you	Follow message keeps coming
The comment isn’t in All Comments at all	Instagram never told InstantDM about it	Re-run missed comments or Comment Pooling (Trendsetter and above)
Flow stopped in Missed & Failed	A flow stopped at a step Instagram refused	Fix the cause, then click Continue

Less common causes

• The person is in Whitelist Contacts. Whitelisted people get no automation at all. Check Account Settings → Automation → Whitelist Contacts.
• A DM keyword or story reply was skipped while you were chatting. Prevent In-Chat Trigger skips these if your account sent a message in that chat recently, including messages from your automations. See Automation tab switches.
• “Any Message” replied only once. First time only replies once per person, ever. Once a day replies at most once every 24 hours. This is expected.
• A story reply didn’t trigger. Only text replies count. Stickers, photos and reactions don’t.
• A story mention didn’t trigger. InstantDM has no story-mention trigger.
• A post shared to your DMs didn’t trigger. Automate Post sent to your DM must be on for that post, it only works for your own posts, and it needs Instagram login. See post shared to DMs.
• Send Link and Lead Gen are both on for one post. Only the one you saved last runs. Use one or the other.
• You edited a Lead Gen post in the phone app. Publishing that post’s automation in the app removes the Lead Gen set up on the web. Set it up again on the web.
• A flow was switched off or deleted while someone was in the middle of it. They stop where they were. Set the flow live again.
• They tapped a button from another app (for example Instagram’s own chat buttons). Only InstantDM’s buttons continue an InstantDM automation.

When Instagram refused the DM

You may also get an email about these. See InstantDM’s warning emails.

• They don’t follow you: InstantDM posts your Comment Reply for Non-Followers under their comment instead. See non-followers.
• Your Instagram DMs are turned off: turn message access back on in Instagram. The email “Your Instagram DMs are turned off” links a short video.
• Missing permissions: reconnect and approve every permission on Meta’s screen.
• Another app controls the chat (for example ManyChat or Meta Business Suite): the email “Some Instagram replies aren’t going out — quick fix” links a video with the setting to change.
• Your account is limited: see Instagram limited my account.
• Too old: “Instagram no longer allows a reply to this — it is too old”. Comments can get a DM within 7 days, messages within 24 hours.

On the phone app

• A “Connection Expired” banner on the Instagram screen means you must reconnect. Tap it.
• Home → Instagram → Posts → tap the post → Contacts tab. Each person shows DM Sent with a tick or a cross, and the error reason under Show More.
• Switches: profile photo → Settings → Automation (Global Automation, DM Replies).
• Failed DMs: Home → Automation Recovery → Missed & Failed.

What you can’t do

• DM people who never commented or messaged you.
• Send a DM after Instagram’s window has closed.
• Trigger an automation from a reply inside a comment thread or from a story mention.